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Tuesday, 18 October 2016

Censorship: UK bank loses all RT accounts

One
thing we used to celebrate about Britain was its “freedom of
speech” and its journalism. No longer, it seems. The truth hurts.UK
bank to close RT accounts, 'long live freedom of speech!' –
editor-in-chief

RT17
November, 2014

The
UK bank servicing RT has given notice that it will close the
broadcaster’s accounts, without explanation. The UK government has
denied any involvement in the bank's decision.

The
bank said that the entire Royal Bank of Scotland Group, of which
NatWest is part, would refuse to service RT.

The
letter said the decision was final and that it is “not
prepared to enter into any discussion in relation to it.”

The
RT press office pointed out that NatWest is part of the Royal Bank of
Scotland Group, which counts the UK government as a significant
shareholder.

“This
decision is incomprehensible, and without warning. It is however, not
at odds with the countless measures that have been undertaken in the
UK and Europe over the last few years to ostracize, shout down, or
downright impede the work of RT. RT UK will continue its operations
uninterrupted,” RT
press office stated.

"It's
a matter for the bank and it's for them to decide who they offer
services to based on their own risk appetite," May's
spokeswoman told reporters, as cited by Reuters.

“We
have no idea why it happened, because neither yesterday nor the day
before yesterday, nor a month ago, nothing special happened to us,
nobody threatened us in any way. Hypothetically, this may have
something to do with new British and American sanctions against
Russia, which may be announced soon. It may not. Our legal department
is dealing with the issue now,” Margarita
Simonyan told RBK business news website.

In
a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its “deep
concern” over
the bank's move and said that it would ask British authorities “to
clarify the situation.”

The
bank’s move creates “formidable
obstacles for the normal work of the [RT] channel in the UK,” the
ministry said, adding that it raises suspicions that it was “an
action aimed at eliminating a media outlet, which was unfavorable for
the British establishment but popular among the British public.”

“If
so, then it is a gross violation of the basic principles of free
speech and free press by… ‘the oldest democracy in the
world’,” the
ministry statement added.

“We
will demand explanations from the British authorities for this
situation. We will help RT staff to protect their rights. We will
request that international organizations like the Council of Europe
and the UN, as well as international human rights and media
professionals communities state their positions on this issue,” he
said.

“I
sincerely hope that there’s no political motive for this, because
we know that the British government isn’t happy with RT in
Britain,” publisher
Marcus Papadopoulos told RT.

“RT
has a lot of viewers in Britain. Many British people now tune in to
RT to receive information on major topics around the world, including
in Britain. And many British people believe that the alternative
accounts that RT puts forward and covers are more truthful than what
they’re hearing from, for example, Sky News.

“If
no bank in Britain would allow RT to be a customer, then that could
spell the end of RT broadcasting in Britain, which would be a
catastrophic event for freedom of speech in Britain,” he dded.

“It
seems more than a coincidence that this has taken place at a time
when the anti-Russian propaganda has been ramped up to unprecedented
levels,” writer
John Wight told RT. “This
reflects the extent to which the West is losing the information war.
RT plays a key role in challenging the narrative of the West and
Western media when it comes to events in Ukraine, Syria and the
Middle East.”

The
British government indeed considers RT to be a major security threat,
according to a report it gave to the parliament in September. The
cabinet’s plan to counter it, as stated to
MPs, is to encourage “greater
alignment between policy and communications divisions” of
NATO structures as well as pumping more money into BBC World Service.

The
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) appears to have backtracked from its
earlier statement that the looming closure of RT accounts is not up
for discussion. In a letter to RT, the bank said the situation is
being reviewed and the bank is contacting the customer.

The
e-mailed response began with apologies for the delay in the reply.

“These
decisions are not taken lightly. We are reviewing the situation and
are contacting the customer to discuss this further. The bank
accounts remain open and are still operative,” Sarah
Hinton-Smith, Head of Corporate & Institutional, Commercial &
Private Media at RBS Communications, wrote.

However,
the response by Hinton-Smith contradicted an earlier statement by RBS
Group, which said that the decision to suspend banking services to RT
was final and not up for discussion.

The
broadcaster addressed the Royal Bank of Scotland representative over
the contradiction, pointing out that “your
statement seems to suggest that the bank will contact RT and that
there will be a review and further discussion.”

“There’s
not much more of a steer I can give other than what is in the
statement,” Hinton-Smith
replied via email.

Earlier
Monday, the National Westminster Bank (NatWest), which is part of RBS
Group, informed RT UK’s office in London that it will no longer
have the broadcaster among its customers, without providing any
explanation for the decision.

The
Royal Bank of Scotland Group has the UK government as a significant
shareholder, but UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s office has denied
any involvement by the British state in the matter.

RBS’s
decision to close the RT accounts didn’t go unnoticed, with
Russia's Foreign Ministry demanding an explanation from London over
the decision.

The
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it was
monitoring the situation around RT UK’s bank accounts.

Various
groups involved in protection of freedom of speech have expressed
their support for the broadcaster.

UK-based
advocacy group Christian Voice (CV) stressed that fact that the Royal
Bank of Scotland “announced
a review (of the closure of RT accounts)… was a big climbdown from
the 70% UK-Government-owned outfit.”

“RT
is a valuable alternative source of information which often rings
more true than the established channels with their constant video
clips of Boris calling for protests outside the Russian Embassy and
US officials blustering about the Russian Federation and President
Assad. It would be good for NatWest to withdraw their Turkish-style
attack on freedom of expression and for RT to continue to embarrass
Boris Johnson and his mandarins,” Stephen
Green, National Director of Christian Voice, said in a press release.

Former
MP George Galloway has waded into the row over the cancellation of RT
UK’s bank accounts by NatWest, dubbing the move “crude British
state propaganda.”

The
politician and establishment critic commented that the decision by
the bank, of which the British state is a significant shareholder, to
close all of the broadcaster’s accounts was “shocking but not
surprising.”

“It
comes at a time when it’s been obvious in parliament and in the
‘deep state’ that there is a state of anxiety over the influence
and popularity of RT in the country,” Galloway told RT
International. “This coincides with a simultaneous fall in the
credibility of the British state broadcaster the BBC.”

“It’s
just crude British state propaganda. They’ve been nervous about RT
for some time,” he added.

UK
bank to close RT accounts, 'long live freedom of speech!' –
editor-in-chief

According
to Galloway, the bank is unlikely to give RT any explanation for the
decision, since it is largely owned by the British government.

NatWest
is part of the Royal Bank Scotland Group, which was saved from
bankruptcy by British state injections of up to £37 billion ($64
billion). The recapitalization worked out to the equivalent of £617
($752) per British taxpayer.

“It
flows from the discussions from the last few weeks, about
intensifying the sanctions against Syria and Russia,” Galloway
said. “It does pose the question: what does Russia do vis-a-vis the
BBC, the British state broadcaster. Are there grounds for retaliatory
measures against the BBC in Moscow and in Russia? I would have
thought yes.”

Downing
Street has denied any involvement of the government in the NatWest
decision.

“It's
a matter for the bank and it's for them to decide who they offer
services to, based on their own risk appetite,” spokeswoman for
Prime Minister Theresa May told reporters, as cited by Reuters.